The invention relates to the provision of a voice messaging system. More particularly, the invention provides for the transmission, recording and use of enhanced caller identification data in a voice messaging system.
Personal Data Interchange (PDI) occurs every time two or more individuals communicate, in either a business or personal context. The interchange of this personal information data (PID) is desirable whether the parties communicate during a single session (e.g., face-to-face, through electronic means such as telephone, video conference, etc.) or through multiple sessions (e.g., voice-mail, e-mail, correspondence, etc.). Frequently, the PDI includes the exchange of, for example, each party""s phone number, address, name, employer, etc. In a business setting, this PDI has historically been accommodated through the exchange of business cards.
Recently, the amount of personal and business information which is typically exchanged has increased dramaticallyxe2x80x94fuelled by the explosion of the types of methods of communications now available. For example, in recent times, a business person may have had a business card printed with their name, employer, title, business address, business telephone and fax numbers. However, these same business cards may now include wireless numbers (both telephone and pagers), Enhanced Services Network (ESN) number and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) numbers, company web site information, e-mail addresses, toll-free numbers and the like printed thereon.
In the recent past, electronic communication has come to the fore of interpersonal communications. The widespread adoption of electronic mail, voice mail and the use of electronic databases (frequently in the form of electronic address books) has moved PDI into the electronic realm. Devices, such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), now permit individuals to electronically and wirelessly (usually through infrared communications) exchange personal information electronically. These devices have improved the accuracy of personal information databases and reduced the time required to maintain these databases by reducing the manual entry of data from business cards and the like. Further, these devices have allowed their users to better exploit their contact information.
To facilitate electronic PDI, a standard, known as the vCard standard, has been promulgated by the versit Consortium, Version 2.1 issued Sep. 20, 1996 (the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein). This standard specifies an electronic format for personal information data and is based on the syntax of the MIME specification (RFC 1521xe2x80x94the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein). Pursuant to this standard, and other similar proprietary standards, electronic PDI has been widely accepted due to its inherent ease of use.
Voice mail systems have also, to a lesser extent, attempted to provide subscribers with similar easy-to-use features by electronically recording a caller""s telephone number together with a voice message. The caller""s telephone number is typically recorded from the CallerID information transmitted to called parties who subscribe to the CallerID service. Some voice messaging systems allow subscribers, upon hearing the message, to respond to the caller""s voice message by depressing a single key whereupon the voice messaging system will place a return call using the original caller""s recorded telephone number. However, voice mail systems, in many instances, have difficulty in correctly identifying the caller""s telephone number. These difficulties are particularly apparent when a caller traverses the boundaries between public and private telephone networks or when the call is transmitted across disparate backbone technologies (e.g., from a conventional switched circuit based systems to voice over data networks such as VoIP). In these instances, spurious xe2x80x98external linexe2x80x99digits (e.g., xe2x80x989xe2x80x99 or xe2x80x986xe2x80x99) may be inserted at the start of the telephone number. These spurious digits or other difficulties result in an incorrect telephone number being recorded and prevent the voice messaging system from successfully placing a return call when instructing to by a subscriber. Moreover, even when a return connection is successful, information exchange may be thwarted when the first caller has indicated in the initial message to respond via alternative methods of communication (i.e., respond via e-mail, respond via a different number).
Accordingly, an improved voice messaging system which more accurately records the caller""s personal information and provides additional easy-to-use communication alternatives is desired.
A caller receiving a Call Forward No Answer (CFNA) or Call Forward Busy (CFB) is forwarded, in a conventional manner, to a voice messaging system incorporating the invention. A voice messaging system incorporating the invention may, in addition to receiving and storing a conventional voice message, receive and store electronic data corresponding to the caller""s personal information. The transmitted personal information data may comply with the vCard standard. A subscriber to the voice messaging system incorporating the invention can then be presented, perhaps through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) or through use of personal computer in communication with the voice messaging server, with the caller""s message and the caller""s personal information. Further, the subscriber may then respond to a voice message including personal information data by selecting, through, for example, an IVR, one or more of the communications options available.
The personal information data may be transmitted from the caller""s voice messaging system to the called party""s voice messaging system using a data network. The communication between the caller""s and the called party""s voice messaging system may be initiated by the caller""s voice messaging system (in co-operation with the caller""s PBX) using a network address look-up table and the actual telephone number dialled by the caller. The network address look-up table maps called numbers to network addresses of voice messaging systems servicing the party associated with the number called.
In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing voice mail services comprising: receiving a voice transmission from a caller; storing said received voice transmission in a voice mailbox of a subscriber; receiving a data transmission related to said received voice transmission, said data transmission comprising personal information data (PID) corresponding to said caller; and storing said received PID in said voice mailbox.
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a voice mail system comprising: a first input/output (I/O) communicating with a voice network; a second I/O communicating with a data network; memory; a central processor in communication with said first I/O, said second I/O and said memory, said central processor adapted to: receive voice messages from callers for subscribers to said voice mail system through said first I/O; store said received voice messages in a database in said memory; receive personal information data (PID) from said callers through said second I/O; and store said received PID in said database in said memory such that PID relating to a given caller is linked to a voice mail message from said given caller.
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing voice mail services comprising: receiving a voice transmission from a caller over a first network; storing said received voice transmission in a voice mailbox of a subscriber; receiving a data transmission related to said received voice transmission, said data transmission comprising personal information data (PID) corresponding to said caller and received over a data network, said second network comprising a data network; and storing said received PID in said voice mail.
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer readable media comprising computer code for adapting a computer to: receive a voice transmission from a caller; store said received voice transmission in a voice mailbox of a subscriber; receive a data transmission related to said received voice transmission, said data transmission comprising personal information data (PID) corresponding to said caller; and store said received PID in said voice mailbox.
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer readable media comprising computer code for adapting a computer to: receive voice messages from callers for subscribers to said voice mail system through a first I/O of said computer; store said received voice messages in a database in memory of said computer; receive personal information data (PID) from said callers through a second I/O of said computer; and store said received PID in said database in said memory such that PID relating to a given caller is linked to a voice mail message from said given caller.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.